PENDERGRAPHT MYSTERY abt 1880's ARK

Catchy title no?!?!?Here's the story. My husbands Great grandmother, Velma Viola Pendergrapht's (spelling may be wrong) parentage has a wild story with next to no proof.Velma's father (who we don't have a name for) Mr. Pendergrapht, was a widow (no known name) with children. One day as he passed by, He found a young girl about the age of 16 tied to a tree & being buggy whipped. Mr. Pendergrapht took the girl down and found out that she was indentured or an orphan and being whipped for not doing one of her chores to her caretakers liking. Mr. Pendergraphttook her and bought her her first pair of shoes and married her. He was 25 years her senior!!!!!!We don't know if this was love or a babysitting thing but they had one child at least. This supposedly happened in Arkansas.Does this sound familiar to anyone? Ask around to the oldest Pendergraft's you know and see if it jogs their memory.By the way don't ask about the girl's name. We have no idea. And all of this happened around the late 1800's.